Burma - tell the world!

Not surprisingly, there's been a lot of publicity recently about the link between Forthview Primary School and the Hi Bee school on the Thai/Burma border, with many Burmese refugees. I've mentioned the link below on my blog, and there's information on this blogspot here.
I've just had an email from Sheila Laing, the Head Teacher at Forthview who has asked me and her other contacts to circulate details of a blog from one of her contacts in Burma with direct news of what's going on there. Some of the images are shocking, and it also looks to me as if access to the blog is being interfered with, but I'll certainly do what I can to pass on the information. So here is the link to the blog in Burma - pass it on if you can.

Around the constituency...

I've been using the last few days before Parliament resumes after the summer recess and conference reason to get round as many organisations as possible, and the end of last week was no exception. Readers of this blog will have seen below my comments about the funding crisis facing Stepping Stones (North Edinburgh). The funding crisis hasn't gone away, and I went along to the group's AGM at Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre to offer any help I could with their present problems. It really is a most impressive group, doing work with young parents, and if its services were to be badly cut back, it would be a big blow to the community.

The next day I was at another event organised by a group facing funding problems, the Local Parents Together group who hold their events in the Prentice Centre. It was the group's 10th anniversary, and they were holding an occasion to mark what they had done over that period (and also to raise money for Maggie's Centre). It's a really good project, where women have gained a great deal both personally and in terms of what they can do for their community. In their case, the problem is that the funding cuts which have been imposed on voluntary organisations throughout the city by the new LibDem/SNP administration on the council are likely to mean a cut in the opening hours for the Prentice Centre where they meet.

I've also had contact about the financial crisis facing the North Edinburgh Arts Centre, and the Pilmeny Project. What is concerning is that some of these groups had been offered "guaranteed" 3 year funding by the council, only to find that the guarantee wasn't worth anything. I really think the city council should be made to come up with alternatives to all these cuts - schools one week, and vital social services the next. I see that the Labour opposition on the city council has come up with a financial package which could mean these cuts being avoided, and I can't see why this was rejected by the ruling LibDem/SNP group.

Supporting Macmillan Cancer Care

Away from pre-election excitement, this Friday I held what has now become my annual coffee morning in support of Macmillan Cancer Care. This is part of the "Biggest Coffee Morning" in the world, which this year was expected to involve more than 7 million people up and down the UK! I've been organising a event for four years now, which we hold at the Vittoria Cafe/Restaurant just across the road from my office, on Leith Walk. Tony Crolla, Vittoria's owner, donates the takings from the morning and we have a collection box as well. This year we made £335, and we had some new faces at the coffee morning as well, as well as a good blether with quite a few regulars! Thanks Tony for your support - and here's a plug for his excellent coffee and meals, both at Vittoria and at his pizza restaurant La Favorita, also in Leith Walk (both of which I can personally recommend!). (Here's some photos of me with Tony, and also with some of our visitors to the coffee morning).

Election or not?

It's obviously been a good conference for Labour. I think part of the reason is that the public, having been fed negative stories about Gordon Brown by some of the media, have now seen the real thing and they like what they see.

Not surprisingly, the good response from the public and the opinion poll ratings have encouraged a lot of talk about a general election. I've been (pleasantly) surprised by the number of people in the constituency who have said they would be quite keen to see the government getting the endorsement from a fresh general election (hope they're not having me on!). On the other hand, the government still has a mandate for a further 30+ months, and I think we should be wary of getting carried off in a frenzy inspired by the media and the inevitably frenetic atmosphere of a party conference. So should there/will there be a UK general election? My answer is I don't know (on both counts!); but we will know one or the other fairly soon!

Cleaning up Cramond

Down to Cramond beach at the weekend to to support in the Beachwatch litter survey and clean up organised by the Marine Conservation Society. About 20 volunteers were there, as part of this UK wide campaign, along with myself and local Green MSP Robin Harper. As well as cleaning up the beach (and looking at how the litter and rubbish found this year compared with last), it was also an opportunity to highlight the need for Marine Acts at both UK and Scottish level to give proper protection to our vulnerable marine environments. (Photo courtesy Calum Duncan/Marine Conservation Society).

Africa's agony

A few nights ago, I saw the horrific report on Newsnight of the suffering in Zimbabwe, with the harrowing pictures of sick, starving and dying children being almost unbearable to watch. I can understand why the Archbishop of York has called for sanctions on Zimbabwe, and certainly any possible solution has to be attempted, given that so far nothing else appears to have shaken the grip of the Zimbabwe regime. I'm not too sure that sanctions will be very effective, though; given that Mugabe has managed to destroy his economy and society by himself, it must be questionable whether the added pressure of sanctions will mean anything to him. But anything is worth trying, and I'll certainly be urging our government to listen to what the Archbishop is saying. I suspect though the crucial factor will be the attitude of the government of South Africa - as well as what is done by the Chinese government, whose deals with Mugabe have given him a lifeline.

There are some very faint signs of progress elsewhere in one of Africa's trouble spots, though, with the eventual, if slow, go ahead for the UN/African Union force for Darfur. It's been slow getting organised, and it's not there yet, and meantime the situation is still desperate. Gordon Brown has underlined the British wish, however, that the force should be in place as soon as possible.

It's not just the schools under threat

The well-publicised threat, and subsequent climbdown, of extensive school closures by the LibDem/SNP administration now running Edinburgh City Council has been widely publicised. However, not as much publicity has been given to the other cuts in council services which the new council has also proposed, and I think it's time more people knew about these as well.

Today, I visited (see above) one of the projects under threat, the Stepping Stones (North Edinburgh) project. This is based in Granton, with a centre in Muirhouse as well. I've visited their activities on a number of occasions, and I've found them very impressive.

But now as a result of the council cutbacks there's a big threat to the future of much of their work. They've been told they face potential removal by the Council of the funding for their work with the under 3s, their ante natal services, and their family support services. If their worst fears become a reality, they could lose more than £90,000 - more than 40% of their annual budget of £220,000.

This threat is not surprisingly causing real worries to the staff and the mothers and families with whom they work. I'm told they will hear more about the likely cuts in the next week or so.

I hope these projects do survive, as it would certainly a big blow to the community if these activities were forced to close. I've told Stepping Stones I will certainly support them in any campaign they mount to save these important services they provide for young parents, and the children who benefit as a result.

Putting fuel poverty on the agenda

We're enjoying a few days of late summer weather here in Edinburgh; but it won't be too long until winter. And that will mean that the issue of fuel poverty will be up on the political agenda again. That's an issue which I've taken up in Westminster in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Debt and Personal Finance, which I chair, and of course it's an issue here in the constituency during the winter months in particular (one ofthe reasons of course why I've taken it up in Parliament).

Our group has just released a report with recommendations on tackling fuel poverty, and once Parliament in Westminster is back in session, I hope to be able to take up the proposals in the report and try and see what we can do to get changes to policy to do something about an issue which last year's increases in energy prices brought back into sharp focus again. There's more about the report on my main website; comments welcome!

Stop the Council Cuts!

On the streets today supporting the campaign against the school closures and cuts in services recently announced by Edinburgh City Council's new LibDem/SNP council. It's a cliche to say this, but it's true; there was overwhelming public support today for our campaign. People were queuing up to sign our petition even before we asked them - and bus passengers and drivers were leaning out of the windows asking for copies of our leaflet! The Edinburgh North & Leith constituency has been particularly badly hit by the programme of closures, but the campaign against is already building up strength. There are active campaigns against the closures at Drummond Community High, Bonnington Primary, Victoria Primary, and Stockbridge Primary (also at Abbeyhill Primary, just outside our area but with many pupils from the constituency, and whose closure will have a big impact on Leith Walk Primary). If you've a campaign to save your school, nursery places, or other council facility, let me know by putting a comment on this blog.
Details of the city-wide campaign against the cuts can be found on the "Stop the Council Cuts" website.
Already there are signs that the strength of public opposition to the proposed cuts is leading to some members of the ruling group in the Council having second thoughts; but we've got to keep up the campaign to make sure they do withdraw this badly-thought out programme of cuts.

Keeping out the "hoi polloi"

If there's one statement made by Edinburgh councillors in recent weeks which stands out, it must be that by LibDem Council Leader Jenny Dawe who has justified the idea of bringing back the councillors' ceremonial robes because it would help to "set the councillors apart from the 'hoi polloi'!". I suspect that this is a phrase which will haunt the LibDem/SNP administration as long as it lasts, and it deserves to, because it reveals a lot about the mentality of the new administration; basically, it's the attitude of the "toon cooncillor" of old, who regarded himself as somebody set apart and above the general population. It's a PR disaster of course for the new administration; and it's only fair to comment that if they can make mistakes about things like this, it's not surprising that they are making mistakes about big issues like the schools closure programme.
For the full details of this story, you can look at the excellent article in the Evening News (together with a very fetching 'mock-up' of Jenny Dawe in the new robes!)